Auto news on Youtube Nov 30 2018

This is the all-new Mazda3. Wait a second so's that. That's two Mazda3s.

Both are five passenger compact cars the sedan and the hatchback both see a major

exterior redesign. Feast your eyes. The sedan takes on more characteristics

of the lovely Mazda6 The hatchback design is more radical, c-pillars and a

more bloated rear-end dominate. We're not convinced we like it and we're really

interested to see how those pillars affect visibility. There's only one new

engine to start that's the 2.5 liter SKYACTIV gasoline engine, but there's

interesting news coming. Eventually the SKYACTIV-X, a mild hybrid engine, will

arrive in the US, making the Mazda3 the first production hybrid vehicle from the

Japanese carmaker. It's a bit of a surprise that they wouldn't debut this

on the popular CX-5 model but sedans sell just fine in the rest of the world, so

there's that. Another first, all-wheel drive is available. That means if you

live in inclement weather or drive on rougher roads you get more traction. The

hatchback is available with a manual or automatic transmission, but the sedan

gets the automatic only. Inside the cabin takes on a less-is-more visual approach.

Dynamically all of the drive systems like throttle, braking, steering, and

chassis are connected and work together for improved performance.

There's also now a twist beam suspension instead of a multi-link system. It's a

simpler setup and we'll be interested to see how it performs, especially on the

all-wheel drive models. Expect deliveries early in 2019 with the SKYACTIV-X option

coming later in the year. Pricing isn't available yet but the current base model

starts around $18,100, so expect it to be close.

To add some excitement to the equation of two Mazda3s the sportiest

suspension tuning of all the global setups is coming to the US. Yay!

We'll be able to test that when they deliver in 2019.